Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey People
Came through my door this morning. How much does it cost to produce this glossy full-colour magazine and why are the council still publishing it while cutting day centres and other essential services? An paying someone to deliver it house to house.
If they must publish something, Hackney council produce a smaller newspaper-style one, presumably cheaper, which actually has a lot more local community information in it and not just council good news propaganda.
Tags for Forum Posts: haringey people
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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It's [Haringey People magazine is] not entirely crap.
Alan in all fairness, I have to agree. It has been estimated that between 1% to 10% is not crap; independent research verifies that the percentage varies between issues.
On Eddie's Comedic Masterpiece
I agree with you that whoever tried to suppress it on deeply spurious grounds of race (and shielding those with learning difficulties), is humourless and dishonest to boot. I also agree with Liz, that if I'd been featured in that way, I'd be hanging it on the wall, printing, distributing etc.
I should say that – although for me Eddie's 2008 Masterpiece stands out head and shoulders in the history of HOL as the best ever – you yourself set a very high average in terms of consistent humour. Seriously.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Clive, how dare you suggest that anything I write is intended to be humour. It is always factual, accurate and comprehensively evidenced. I have left a secret message for Hugh Flouch in the usual hollow tree in Finsbury Park, making entirely reasonable and non-negotiable demands.
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I have left a secret message for Hugh Flouch in the usual hollow tree in Finsbury Park
Hugh had better retrieve your secret message soon.
Despite the usual tree being subject to the Tree Preservation Order you arranged, I hear that the Hollow Tree is scheduled for the chop in the New Year. Something about it being in the way of the Cabinet's enhanced Finsbury Park Concerts policies. Sounds to me like crossed wires.
Can I suggest that in future you leave your secret messages under the Recycling Bins by the Endymion Road gate, where they are likely to remain undisturbed for long periods.
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FPR, a link to the current issue is here
and an archive of the last four years can be found here
I'm pleased to say that the number of photos of Councillors from the Majority Group* has been dramatically reduced as compared with previous issues. Perhaps this is a response to the Communities Secretary suggesting that publications like this amount to propaganda on the rates.
*it was almost always Majority Group Councillors who featured
in the published photo opportunities. I wonder why?
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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OK I've read it again online, as mine went in the recycling after a quick flick through. I prefer reading it online as I don't feel so irritated at the costly-looking production values and the fact that, at the end of the day, it is still waste paper. I liked the article on the community garden in Stanhope Gardens, but feel less interested in the rest.
The relentless positivity does wear thin, especially as many of the messages are about tackling the same problems that are (or will soon be) being exacerbated by cuts. Articles about trying to clean up the borough appear in almost every issue, and yet my garden has for twenty years been a receptacle for litter dropped in the street, and never seems to have improved much. And I note that 'street cleansing' is one of the areas slated for cuts in the next round.
I just think HP is an expense that could be cut, or cut back on (since a PDF version still requires photographers, writers, editors, layout artists, etc. ), rather than dismantling some of the most important support networks for vulnerable people. A question of priorities.
And I would very much like to hear an answer to the FOI request about exactly how much it does cost - I'm amazed we can't seem to find this out.
I don't for the moment think that the council will stop printing the magazine, though, as it paints them so thoroughly as a successful,dynamic and effective organisation.
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Also I didn't see any paid-for advertising. Although I'm not sure I'd like it to look like Haringey Council, sponsored by....
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Thanks FPR, for suggesting downloading ihe December/January edition of Haringey People Magazine - rather than taking the usual two steps outside the front door to the recycling bin.
I hadn't seen it. (Maybe deliveries haven't yet arrived here in the far east.) But there are indeed several intriguing aspects to the latest edition, which made me think rather more than a Pizza Leaflet. Although probably not thoughts which the Dear Leader might welcome.
But what are your views?
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I note that the Council claims,
Residents rate Haringey People highly
We know from independent research that it is the source most often used and most preferred by residents to obtain information about the council and is rated more highly than all the local newspapers combined.
This was confirmed in a readers’ poll, where 87% of respondents said the magazine is a useful way of keeping them informed about the council.
Does anyone believe this?!
This was part of a pitch to advertisers. It appears that few advertisers take HP seriously. In the current edition – 32 pages in full colour – it appears that perhaps half a page is a paid for advertisement. Last month there was a whole page ad.
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Clive, they get it. They've heard it from you; they've heard it from other people on HoL. The critique is accurate. Take it as given.
Then do what FPR suggests. Download and look through the latest edition. Then, for a few moments, forget the critique - a very well-deserved criticism of the Council for Party Propaganda.
Turn the thing upside-down. Instead consider what 'stories' - the "narratives" - they are constructing. And why?
And that percentage? Just forget it. A percentage of an unknown number remains an unknown number. I've used that quote several times to point out the absurdity of some or other Council claim.
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If HP is less propagandist now that is a good thing; however the main objection is that it is largely unnecessary.
It's especially extravagant when the Council prioritises cuts to public services, over cuts to their house magazine that sometimes features full-page stories about employees and articles that tell the credulous how well the local authority is doing and that everything is rosy.
Sometimes its forgotten that the Local Authority exists to provide services to the public who pay for them.
There are several ways the costs could be reduced; one suggestion I heard recently was that the Council could take out paid-for advertising of say one, two or even three pages in the local (real) press for the relatively small amount of HP that contains genuine information:
e.g. 'From your Council ...'
This would be far less expensive. It would have the added benefit of supporting the local press when it is under pressure.
This could be one of several steps to make Council Communications better fit the real needs of today.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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To Alan, Clive, Hugh, Liz et al:
78 months later, I still maintain that Eddie Finnegan is a racist, politically biased b-st--d who should be blackballed from any self-respecting social website. HOL moderators are obviously fellow-travellers in that they ignored my repeated appeals to reason and their own house rules.
Old-Age-Emporium
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Where did you get the figure of £100K, FPR? That's a lot of money! I'd vote for maintaining basic services, such as daycare centres that give respite to people like my neighbour, who is the carer for her elderly mother with dementia. She probably saves the council masses by taking on that responsibility, but doing it day and night without a break is physically and emotionally exhausting.
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